Anji Pharmaceuticals announced it has licensed pradigastat, an inhibitor of acyl coA: diacylglycerol acyl transferase , from Novartis. Pradigastat is a well-characterized molecule which has progressed to Phase 3 clinical testing. Anji has secured rights to pursue new indications for pradigastat, with an initial focus on regulatory approval in China. In exchange, Anji has agreed to make a one-time upfront payment of $2.0M to Novartis, with additional cash payments and downstream royalties due upon reaching regulatory and sales milestones.

Square offers continued upside from current levels, says Tigress Financial. Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth writes that Square continues to benefit from its growing Gross Payment Volume and its expanding customer service base. The analyst believes that the company is also receiving "increasing contribution from key product lines including Square Register and Virtual Terminal, along with Cash Card, Caviar, Instant Deposits, Reader SDK, and its recently introduced Square Terminal and Square Payroll App." Feinseth is keeping his Buy rating on Square shares and expects its automated client onboarding process to continues to help increase the reach of its financial systems to more clients.

Benefitfocus analyst day presentation highlighted its value, says Jefferies. Jefferies analyst Samad Samana kept his Buy rating and $48 price target on Benefitfocus after its Analyst Day, saying the company's presentation has given him "continued appreciation" for the value of its "subscriber base, platform and competitive positioning". The analyst notes that the company has introduced a new financial metric in its discussion - Net Benefit Eligible Lives - which grew over 15% to 13.2M for its core enrollment platform. Samana also cites Benefitfocus management view of growing its average revenue per user and drive adoption of its BenefitsPlace platform.

Fabrinet among the 'better' optical stocks to own, says Piper Jaffray. Piper Jaffray analyst Troy Jensen kept his Overweight rating and $56 price target on Fabrinet after meeting with its CEO and CFO. The analyst says the discussions have left him "increasingly confident" in the company's investment story, adding that he believes that Fabrinet is well positioned to "experience industry leading growth." Jensen further states that CEO Seamus Grady "evolved into a thoughtful, driven leader" in his short time at the helm and expects Fabrinet to see "strong underlying near-term demand for telco optics".

Caterpillar announced that Zach Kauk, vice president of the Excavation Division, is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Replacing Kauk will be Tom Frake, current vice president of Global Power Solutions Division. Both moves are effective immediately.

Exxon Mobil issued a letter to the EPA expressing support of methane gas emission rules established under the Obama administration, Reuters reports, citing a copy of the letter. The Trump administration in September proposed loosening requirements for repairing leaks of the greenhouse gas in drilling operations in a step toward rolling back an Obama-era policy, the report says. "We support maintaining the key elements of the underlying regulation, such as leak detection and repair programs," Exxon Vice President Gantt Walton said in the letter. Reference Link

CBS's (CBS) board is working with executive search firm Korn/Ferry to find a new CEO after agreeing to deny former CEO Les Moonves his $120M severance, Bloomberg reports. So far, most of the focus in the process has been on interviewing board members about what they are looking for in a new boss, the report says, citing people familiar with the matter. In 2019, the company intends to start more formally reaching out to potential candidates, the report says. A CBS representative has reached out to former Walt Disney (DIS) COO Tom Staggs about the position, the report says. The pool of potential executives also includes former Turner Broadcasting head John Martin, 20th Century Fox (FOXA) chairman Stacey Snider and ex-Tribune Media (TRCO) CEO Peter Liguori, the report says. CBS also hasn't ruled out a permanent appointment for Joe Ianniello, who is currently serving as acting CEO, the report says, citing people familiar with the matter. Reference Link

UP AFTER EARNINGS: Jabil Inc (JBL) up 10.5%... Steelcase (SCS) up 3.6%. ALSO HIGHER: Adamas Pharma (ADMS) up 4.9% after announcing issuance of patent covering GOCOVRI... Angi Homeservices (ANGI) up 0.4% after being initiated with Buy at SunTrust. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Micron (MU) down 9.0%, Lam Research (LRCX) down 3.3%, Applied Materials (AMAT) down 2.6% in sympathy... FedEx Corp (FDX) down 6.1%, UPS (UPS) down 3.5% in sympathy. ALSO LOWER: Surface Oncology (SURF) down 16.6% after product portfolio realignment including the significant reduction of the investment in and scope of its SRF231 program... Globalstar (GSAT) down 9.7% after equity offering.

CBS's board is working with executive search firm Korn/Ferry to find a new CEO after agreeing to deny former CEO Les Moonves his $120M severance, Bloomberg reports. So far, most of the focus in the process has been on interviewing board members about what they are looking for in a new boss, the report says, citing people familiar with the matter. In 2019, the company intends to start more formally reaching out to potential candidates, the report says.

Quidel Corporation announced that it has received CE Mark to market Quidel's Sofia 2 Lyme+ FIA to be used with the Sofia 2 Fluorescent Immunoassay Analyzer for the rapid differential detection of human IgM and IgG antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia garinii, and Borrelia afzelii from serum and plasma specimens. The test is specifically developed for the European market and intended for use with the Sofia 2 analyzer to aid in the diagnosis of Lyme disease. Sofia 2 is Quidel's next-generation version of its best-selling Sofia instrumented system. Sofia 2 utilizes the original Sofia's fluorescent chemistry design while improving upon the graphical user interface and optics system to provide an accurate, automated and objective result in as few as 3 minutes. Sofia 2 also integrates ethernet connectivity and its barcode scanner within a smaller footprint than the legacy Sofia instrument.

Cisco's Luxtera deal negative for Finisar and Applied Opto, says Piper Jaffray. Piper Jaffray analyst James Fish notes that the $660M acquisition of Luxterra announced by Cisco (CSCO) yesterday will have "mostly negative" impact on datacom focused optical transceiver suppliers Finisar (FNSR) and Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI). For the former, the analyst notes that Finisar generates about 75% of revenues from datacom transceivers and has frequently experienced Cisco as a 10% plus customer, adding that the vertical integration of the deal will diminishing Cisco's need for merchant transceivers. For the latter, the analyst notes that while Applied Optoelectronics does not "directly sell these components", the Luxterra deal shrinks its market and may lead to more aggressive price moves by the competitors. Fish also sees Fabrinet (FN) as a direct beneficiary of the Luxterra deal given its position as its contract manufacturer that stands to benefit "as Cisco ramps production of SiP transceivers."

Winnebago Industrie announced plans to voluntarily withdraw the listing of its common stock from the Chicago Stock Exchange, effective on or about December 31, 2018. Winnebago Industries' common stock will continue to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Winnebago Industries decided to withdraw its common stock listing from the Chicago Stock Exchange in order to reduce administrative costs associated with a dual listing, and in light of trading volume on the Chicago Stock Exchange comprising approximately 0.01% of the total trading volume in Winnebago Industries common stock during the past 12 months.

Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said that he was weighing using a court-appointed monitor to make sure that CVS (CVS) refrains from fully integrating with Aetna (AET) while he reviews the companies' settlement with the Justice Department, Reuters reports. Leon has said that he was "less than convinced" than the government that asset sales made by Aetna would assuage antitrust concerns raised by the deal, the report notes. Reference Link

Oath COO Guru Gowrappan said: I'm excited today to share that beginning January 8, Verizon Media Group will replace the Oath brand, representing our strong alignment as a core pillar of Verizon's business. This quarter, we've made it easier for people to access our unparalleled diversity and quality of consumer products, while making it easier for advertisers and publishers to solve their business challenges with the recent launch of our unified ad platforms. We've built on this strong foundation and set our advertising solutions apart by introducing over 20 new features this quarter, including engaging ad formats and unique supply such as digital OOH, connected TV and programmatic audio. For publishers, we've introduced new opportunities through these emerging channels and innovative auction mechanics. These enhancements will better serve our partners with smarter personalization and stronger engagement to constantly improve our ecosystem. We've accelerated the launch of new programs and products in just a few short months...Most exciting, and as part of one Verizon, we're growing our work on tomorrow's technologies - XR, AI, machine-learning, mobile-edge computing, 5G and more. These are the building blocks of how we will continue to evolve our member-centric ecosystem with much more to come. I look forward to 2019 and what we will accomplish together as Verizon Media Group." Reference Link

Celanese announced price increases for its GUR and GHR grades engineered materials by 10% in the Americas, 15c/kg in Asia, and EUR0.15/kg in Europe. The price increases will be effective for orders shipped on or after January 1, 2019, or as contracts otherwise allow.